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Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Byron Pitts, Most Recent at Top [Help]
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1. Writers Against Racism: Byron Pitts on 60 Minutes Overtime

If you do nothing else today, please watch Byron Pitt’s interview with Ann Silvio, The “N-word”: Is it ever okay to say it? (via 60 Minutes Overtime) *WARNING* the advertisements and other distractions on the CBS website  may need some sorting through.

BUT…

After watching Byron’s interview I wondered…is the word ‘nigger’ a historical word that has lost its ’sting’ with today’s young people? How do we know they even feel what we feel from hearing the word? As I analyzed the Pitts interview further, it dawned on me that Byron has had to live through a history of racism that provided a certain perspective for him that even his children don’t fully grasp. Silvio asked him if one of his daughters was the only black kid in a class that was reading “Huckleberry Finn” would he want her to read it. He replied, “Yes.”

I certainly would not want my daughter to be subjected to reading the N-word,  page after page, month after month.  My apologies to my esteemed literature teachers/readers who are gasping right now.  Are there other more contemporary books that serve the same purpose? Are we still teaching history and literature in a 20th century modality?

That said, are we putting our ‘past’ issues on today’s students, in an effort to force them to understand a world they knew nothing about…a world of hurt and humiliation? I don’t know, nor am I naive  to think that racism doesn’t exist but we need to begin to analyze ways to move forward.  One way to begin the forward push is to ask the question of today’s K-12 reading lists. Is GONE WITH THE WIND relevant?

E-mail me: [email protected]
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2. Writers Against Racism: 60 MINUTES and “Huckleberry Finn”

Just in case you missed 60 Minutes (on CBS) last weekend, Byron Pitts reported on the neverending “Huckleberry Finn” saga and the use of the word nigger.  He did a great job by showing all aspects of the controversy.  Take a look.


Since I was in high school, I have been on the fence as to whether or not Huck and To Kill A Mockingbird were books that I needed to read; but who wants to argue with a teacher? I am sure you can tell, nothing has changed for me since then. I still ask, are these books relevant? Are there other more contemporary books out there that students (and teachers) can learn from?  As educators, it is incumbent on us to keep having conversations about today’s reading lists.  Imho, reading lists should change. They actually need to change in an effort to cultivate a garden of new crops.  Just imagine what life would be like if the Industrial Revolution didn’t begin – serve its purpose – then end? What happens if we keep these reading lists for another 100-years?

E-mail me: [email protected]
Follow me on Twitter: @abowllan
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